Ford Invests $700 Million In Flat Rock Assembly Plant And $4.5 Billion on EVs by 2020

Ford plans to invest $700 million in its plant in Flat Rock, Michigan. High-tech autonomous and electric vehicles will be built in the factory, along with the famous Mustang and Lincoln Continental. They plan to expand production capacity while adding 700 American jobs in the process.

Forbes reported that the U.S. based automaker would now produce hybrid versions of the F-150 truck and sports car Mustang, a plug-in hybrid version of the Transit Custom, and two new hybrid police vehicles. Considering the exponential growth of electric vehicle market, these are significant news. With the launch of the new Chevrolet Bolt and the impending launch of Tesla’s Model 3, Ford electric vehicles will have to bring a lot to the table.

Currently, cars are the biggest consumer of lithium-ion batteries as a result battery prices are dropping each year. Tesla’s factory plans to double lithium-ion battery production in a couple of years, which would cut down lithium-ion battery prices even more. In addition to that the research on increasing battery efficiency and energy density will allow automakers to produce electric vehicles at prices competitive with fuel powered cars in the future. These combined factors make Ford’s push towards electric vehicles all the more timely.

According to Triple Pundit, Ford thinks that deliveries of electric vehicles will exceed those of gasoline-powered vehicles within the next 15 years. They also plan to have a fully autonomous and steering wheel-less electric vehicle by 2021.

Ford also teams up with other automakers to create an ultra-fast charging network at around 400 sites in Europe. The network is supposed to be faster than the most powerful charging systems available today.

On top of that, the company plans to create a wireless charging technology. The electric vehicles will be able to charge just by pulling into a parking space. Ford plans to invest $4.5 billion into electric vehicles and its infrastructure. These are really good news for the electric vehicle market.